


Falling In Love With Your Best Friend And Other Things That Will Ruin Your Life

by Femalefonzie



Category: Spider Riders (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Attempt at Humor, F/M, Falling In Love, Friends to Lovers, Humor, Igneous is not smooth with the ladies, M/M, Rating May Change, Slate is drowning in self pity, Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-03
Updated: 2015-12-03
Packaged: 2018-05-04 16:11:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5340302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Femalefonzie/pseuds/Femalefonzie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Slate always imagined he would like know when he fell in love. Then one day, it just hit him out of nowhere. Worse of all, the person he fell in love with just had to be his best friend of ten years. His completely straight, and totally in love with someone else, best friend. </p>
<p>...Being in love sucks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Realizing that you are in love with your best friend is an an ordeal that Slate never imagined he would ever have to go through. They had grown up together, they had fought together, trained together, they were as close as two people could ever possibly be but he never thought that their relationship would ever develop in a romantic way. Now, Arachna's Claw didn't know much about love but he always believed that you would have some feeling, some inkling, some idea of when you were starting to fall. He never thought it could happen to someone out of the blue.

At least, that was what he used to believe.

It had been a late night and so he, Igneous and a few other knights had difficulty stirring the next morning. Slate had been the first to rise, and was in the process of making breakfast when Igneous finally stumbled out of his room. His hair was a riot of tangles and curls, there were massive bags under his eyes, and his pajamas appeared to be oversized and almost hanging off his body. He yawned, and sat across from his friend, opting to wait a moment before he got anything to eat.

"Morning sleeping beauty." Slate teased, and reached across the table to flick a large curl out of his friend's eyes. "Sleeping in late? What will the prince think?"

"Lumen sleeps roughly 23 hours a day. He'll never know." Igneous replied with a laugh.

It was then that Slate fell, and by the oracle he fell hard. Igneous' nose always scrunched up when he laughed, in a way that was youthful and adorable. His eyes, a moss green color that had quickly become his favorite color, seemed to sparkle in the morning light. He smiled, the very smile that had won the hearts of the girls' of Arachna, and Slate found himself nibbling on his lower lip nervously.

Oh hell....this wasn't good....wasn't good at all... What was he doing? Igneous was practically his brother! They used to play when they were little for Oracle's sake! He wasn't supposed to feel this way for his best friend!

"Excuse me." He mumbled and bolted up from his seat. "I'm feeling rather ill all of a sudden. I think I'm going to go lay down for a bit."

"Oh." Igneous frowned, but there wasn't much he could do. "Alright. I hope you feel better."

Slate nodded and walked casually towards the door but once he was sure Igneous could no longer see him, broke into a run and didn't stop until he was held up safely in his room again. He felt weird, so it wasn't a total lie that he had just told Fang. His stomach was twisting up and his head was swimming. His mouth was dry and everything seemed...fuzzy.

How long had he been in love with Igneous? Had it been all this time and he'd just not realized it? Or had it been as sudden as it seemed? Slate supposed it didn't matter. All that mattered was that right now he was facing a huge problem. One that had to be dealt with swiftly and efficiently. ...by hiding out in his room for the rest of us life.

~~~~~

3 hours into his attempt to become a shut-in, there was a knock at his door. After spending the past 45 minutes staring mindlessly at the ceiling and doing nothing but thinking it was a welcome change. He forgot, for just long enough to make a critical mistake, why he had even been hiding.

"It's open!"

The door opened and Slate saw his best friend, now completely composed with hair perfectly in place, standing there holding a bowl. He smiled a bit, and entered the room. "You didn't get much to eat at breakfast so I thought you may be hungry," he explained, and set the bowl down on the table beside Slate's bed. "It's your favorite. I know how your mom would make it for you when you were sick when we were both young."

Beef stu, a delicacy that Slate had tried numerous times over the years to master and failed at making repeatedly. Something that he would eat each and every day if only he could. He sat up a bit, took hold of the spoon and tried a mouthful.

That, ladies and gentlemen, was the clincher that made Slate realize how screwed he was. It was the best beef stu he had ever tasted! His mother's didn't even compare to this! And Igneous had clearly been so worried about him, so concerned, to go through all this trouble just for him! How could he have not seen this coming before?! He wanted to go back in time and smack himself upside the head for being so clueless towards his situation. He, Slate Grey, was absolutely and beyond any doubt, completely and totally in love with his best friend.

"Do you like it?" Igneous asked, "I know Monnie tried to teach us how to make it and to be honest I never tried before but-"

"It's brilliant!" Slate insisted, and started downing the stu like he was a man on his last meal. "This is absolutely incredible!"

Igneous laughed, "You're so easily swayed by food. It's a good thing you're not more of a politician than a knight! A couple of good sandwiches and you're putty in anyone's hands!"

Slate laughed himself, knowing this to be true. It is said that the fastest way to a man's heart is through his stomach....and well they weren't lying. Slate was living proof that the statement was true. "Well, I want you to know, that your concern is widely appreciated, as is your food preparation skills."

This all felt awkward. Slate didn't want to talk like this, he wanted to tell Igneous about how he felt. He wanted to make his feelings known, to see if his affection towards his friend was returned. And at the same time, he knew it would not be. And worse yet, this could change everything. What would happen if they were to date then break up horribly? What is something was to happen and he lost his best friend for good? He felt sick again.

"Is something wrong?" Igneous asked. "I don't mean with an illness of course, I mean with...with you. You seem rather strange today, an issue I do not attribute to an illness. Is there anything you want to tell me? You know whatever is troubling you, I can help you."

Slate paled, and forced himself to avert his gaze. He hated how Igneous could read him like a book, how he stood out in such a manner. This wasn't going as smoothly as he hoped...even if he had only spent the morning thinking about it. He was a romantic at heart, so what?

"Actually...yes," He said slowly, trying to tread as carefully as he possibly could and kept his voice both steady, and confident enough to be heard. There was the sound of a carriage approaching outside, causing caught a stir. Most likely Lumen's newest investment. "Iggy...Fang...Igneous I have something really important to tell you and I don't know how to say it...."

He sighed, ignoring the sound of footsteps approaching down the hall and Hunter's excited babbling. No doubt he was counting on a ride from this new royal asset.

"Fang...This morning I realized something I had been oblivious to before. I...I'm in-"

The door to Slate's room was flung open and an overly excited Hunter appeared in the doorway, bouncing up and down like a child on a sugar-high.

"Guys come outside quick! You're not going to believe who stopped by to attend the peace festival Prince Lumen is throwing!"

"Who?"

"Queen Illuma! She and Solan came all the way from Numa to see us! You got to come greet here! Come on! It's rude to leave royalty waiting!"

Slate watched in amazement as Igneous' face went completely blank, then turned the brightest shade of red Slate had ever seen, followed by a grin that quickly spread across his face. "Illuma!" Igneous declared happily, and bolted for the door. He could lie to everyone as much as he wanted, Igneous had yet to get over her. He fell for that woman hard, despite the fact of her being at least ten years his senior.

Hunter remained in the doorway, "You coming Slate?"

Arachna's Claw shook his head. "I'm still feeling a bit ill. I'll be down soon, don't you worry."

That was enough to get Hunter moving again, and faster than Slate could blink he was gone, no doubt running to join in the celebrations. The knight sighed, and flipped back onto the bed. Falling in love with your best friend was hard, but falling in love with your straight best friend who was completely and utterly in love with someone else was the absolute worst.

...

Being in love sucked. 

 


	2. Chapter 2

What's worse than being in love with someone who will never love you back because they're already in love with someone else? When the person they love is a sweet, loyal person who you can't help but like. Slate had really been hoping he would hate Queen Illuma, and that it would make his heart ache hurt less but no. She had to be this pure cinnamon roll...

The journey from Numa was long and dangerous but she and her boyfriend Solan had come all this way to attend the peace festival Lumen was having following the defeat of Mantid. She was smiling, laughing and dancing with both human commoners and invectids alike, as music played in the square and people clapped and danced around her.

After forcing himself to go meet her, and being dragged to this silly opening event by the rest of the team, Slate found himself still sticking close to Igneous and trying not to look like a brooding, selfish jerk. It was one of the most difficult things he'd ever done.

"Isn't she beautiful?" Igneous asked him, making sure to keep his voice low enough so Solan, who was dancing with his girlfriend and the others, couldn't overhear him.

Slate snorted. "Isn't she old enough to be your mother?"

If Igneous heard him, he didn't respond. He kept shifting from one foot to another awkwardly, smiling slightly, and appeared to be trying to decide if he wanted to dance or not himself. The answer, Slate knew, would be no. Igneous didn't dance. Not with anyone.

"Is it...bad that I want their relationship to not work out?" He asked him. "I mean...I want her to be happy but I just-"

"Wish it was you?" Slate asked. "You wish that you were the one who brings her happiness?"

"Yeah."

"Yes." No. No that was a lie. He knew that because he was feeling that way himself....though....Slate supposed that just because he was wishing for the same thing, didn't make it okay. That was selfish of him. It was the happiness of his best friend he was talking about here. On the other hand...-

Igneous frowned and averted his eyes away from the royal to the ground. He had his hands I his pants pockets, and shifted once more. "That's what I thought....does this make me a bad person?"

"Of course not! Igneous, a bad person would...would take steps to ruin their relationship. You're just....just hoping that something changes." A lot like he was. "You are a good person, the best person I know."

He was smart, he was funny, he was sweet, he was brave, he was strong....he was perfect. A list of things that Slate would never say out loud to the person in question.

His friend smiled again at that, and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "What would I do without you?" He asked him.

"Turn into a giant crank like you did when I was away?" Slate suggested. "That's what you would do."

"Asshole." Igneous said, and nudged him playfully. "I'm not that moody."

"Yes. Yes you are. It's part of the reason the girls liked you for so long. Brooding teenage warrior with pretty eyes and hair."

"You think I have pretty eyes?"

...

....

Oh shit.

....

Oracle help him.

Slate forced a laugh that came out feeling as awkward as it sounded, and he could have sworn he felt some eyes turn their way, though those people quickly looked away when they saw it was nothing. Slate patted his friend's back as he continued to laugh in a way that resembled a man choking. "Oh Igneous, I don't think you have pretty eyes. The girls did. I overheard them saying it before you left for Numa. It was on their list of things that they liked about you, I suppose."

Nice save Slate. You can save Arachhna but you can't even properly climb your way out of the whole you dug.

"Oh." Igneous said, "Do you know if...they said anything else about me?"

...So maybe that list of things Slate would never say out loud may be getting spoken after all. It wasn't like Igneous would just go up to the girls of his fan club and ask if they truly felt that way about him. He could make this work.

"Well," he said and tried to appear as nonchalant about it as possible. "They said you were handsome a bunch of times but that's not just it. You're not just some boy toy, you know? They like how honest and hard working you are, not to mention compassionate, intelligent, and how you can still be...be a bit goofy in a way but still get the job done and take your job seriously. Oh, and they like your butt."

"What?"

"What?" Slate asked.

"That...just seems like kinda an odd thing to end that list on but okay. There's no big issues there." Arachna's fang shrugged, and looked back over at Illuma in the crowd of dancing citizens. "...if I'm so great how come she can't see that?"

Because she's at least ten years older than you and your romantic interest would naturally make her a bit uncomfortable? "I don't know man...I suppose that...she may have already fallen for Solan when you showed up." You know, the guy actually in her age bracket?

Although they were good points, they seemed to be lost on Igneous and Slate couldn't blame him. It was hard to accept that you were in love with a person who had already fallen for someone else. It was a real love triangle here....well no not really. A love triangle would be something like person a loves person b who loves person c who loves person a. This was more of a misshapen love line. Person a (Slate) loves person b (Igneous) who loves person c (Queen Illuma) who loves person d (Solan) who is also in love with person c (Queen Illuma). Not very triangle shaped...

Maybe they just needed a distraction. Something to take their minds off the Queen Illuma thing. Slate looked around and saw that Hunter, Corona, Sparkle, Grasshop, Weeval and their kids had joined the ever growing crowd of dancing civilians. It was....actually cute to see invectid children getting along so well with humans.

Another quick scan of the crowd showed that Prince Lumen had remembered the Nyoa incident and was attempting to put the moves on a very uninterested looking Beerin while Bugese and Aqune looked on in amusement. See, how was it far that someone who used to be one of the biggest villains in Arachna found love?

Damn you Bugese, how did it happen so you had the smoothest love life? You bastard. Magma the was currently talking with Stags of all people, as they helped themselves to the food. Seems that he made a new friend...

"You know, if you're not having a good time we can go back to the palace?" Slate suggested. "Train for a bit, or drink or something."

"You remember what happened the last time we drank? They were cleaning that hall for vomit for hours. I'm not touching that stuff again until I'm 40."

Slate snorted at the memory. It had been....an interesting night. He couldn't blame Igneous for not wanting to drink anytime soon.

"Iggy, I just really don't think that staying around here with nothing to do is fun. You look miserable. C'mon lets just go-"

Something thundered in a distance and the music stopped on a high pitched note. The crowd became whispering frantically, looking around at each other. From where he was, he could see Beerin mouth to Bugese, "What's this?" To which he shrugged. This was no big four plot...

"Alright everyone stay calm." Prince Lumen addressed the crowd. "It's probably nothing. A rockslide in the faraway mountains, perhaps? We should not worry over something that we cannot control-"

The thundering started again, and beneath their feet the ground started to rumble and shake. Slowly, almost nonexistent at first, then it increased almost dramatically. It became difficult to stand without wobbling, and plates and dishes slowly vibrated right off their tables as Stags and Magma attempted and failed to keep them in place.

A terrified voice screamed out, "Earth Quake!"

"There's no earth quakes in Arachna!" Someone else cried out, just as the ground started to crack open beneath their feet.

"Evacuate the square immediately!" Prince Lumen ordered the Knights. "Make sure everyone gets out!"

A herd of panicked invectids and humans started running past Fang and Claw, some screaming, some carrying children, and more than a few times Igneous or Slate was almost knocked over. They were the only two currently trying to run into the square, and therefore towards danger, as the ground literally shifted beneath them.

"Slate! Igneous!" They looked back over their shoulders and saw Weeval standing there, holding Princess Sparkle in one arm while she held her daughter's hand with the other. "Please! I can't find my son and Grasshop ran back to try and get him-"

"We'll get them both out! I promise!" Igneous assured her, and took off running again, with Slate following suit. Only a month ago, his friend had claimed that Invectids lacked any heart...and now he was saving them. It was funny how these things worked.

Despite evacuation orders almost immediately after the chaos began, the square was still filled with people. Slate could hear Hunter and Corona somewhere nearby, and when he looked up, he saw Magma, Brutus and Stags using the spider's silk spinners to lift people up and evacuate them over the tops of the buildings. Prince Lumen was calling out for his sister, not aware that she had already gotten clear of the area. Aqune, Bugese and Beerin were moving with the crowd, trying to calm people down and move them out in a timely manner. There was no sign of Grasshop or his son.

"We must find them first, and then return to help." Igneous told him. "I'll take the left, you take the right-"

 The ground shifted again, and a large crack began to open. It would not be much longer until it was big enough to swallow a person, never to be seen again.

"Hurry!" Slate told him, and ran in the direction assigned to him. By now most of the people were really starting to panic, and trample over anything or anyone who got in their way. Slate hung close to the walls of buildings he passed to avoid being swept up in the crowds, and finally caught sight of Grasshop a few yards ahead. He was calling out his son's name.

"Grasshop!" Slate called to him. "Igneous and I will find him! You must get out of here now! Take Prince Lumen with you!"

He never thought he would be helping that bug after everything he did, but like the guy said, even bugs could have a change of heart. For once the grasshopper didn't say anything witty or whiney or sarcastic, he just nodded and ran in the direction the prince had last been seen. He trusted the spider riders completely, something that no one had ever thought possible. A lot could change in the course of a month...

"Help!"

That voice cut through the air, above the cries of others. Slate looked over to where it had come from and his heart nearly stopped. Queen Illuma was cradling Grasshop's son close, she had been dancing with him and his sister before the chaos and when he had been separated from his parents, he ran to her, kneeling on the ground which cracked beneath them. Any second it would open up and they would be lost forever.

"Illuma!" And there was Igneous, having caught sight of the situation from where he was. He sprinted towards the two, completely forgetting the fact the ground beneath them was now almost as frail as ice. Slate ran after him, knowing that when his friend was like this he could not think straight and logically like he normally did. He would be reckless, and act without thinking, which could very well end his life.

"What should we do?" Illuma asked, "I'm scared that any movement will cause-"

"We got over here fine," Igneous assured her. "My queen, take the child and run. We will be right behind you."

Damn his chivalry. There had to be a safer way out of this....but since he couldn't think of a better one at the moment this was going to have to do. Slowly, Queen Illuma stood up, lifting the young grasshopper in her arms. They waited, to see if the ground would brake, both braking into a run towards the nearest exit. The four were half way across when it finally started to brake, and catch up with them. Queen Illuma and the young invectid made it across, but Igneous and Slate were not so lucky.

They were at most six feet away from safety when the ground gave way beneath their feet, and they fell. Igneous grabbed onto the side of the casum wall, hanging onto a couple of old roots, while Slate grabbed onto his legs. A gapping, dark, emptiness was beneath them, and neither could see the bottom.

"Hang on!" Igneous told him. "I think I can climb up-"

Slate looked up to see for himself. His friend would not be able to get up without help. They were two feet down, and there was nothing besides the roots that currently held them up for him to grab onto and use in their escape. They were stuck here until help arrived.

"Illuma will get help!" Igneous promised him. "Hunter will get Shadow and we'll get out of here."

He couldn't use Flame. The spider would never fit in this tight space. He would only be of use, If he was on solid ground above them and would never make it from here.

"We'll be fine!" Slate said, trying to remain optimistic. Any chance of that happening though vanished when the roots started to brake.

Igneous frowned, and tried to adjust them so it wasn't putting too much weight on them, but nothing changed. Slowly, it started giving way.

"It's not strong enough to support us both!" Slate shouted in alarm.

"It will! It has too!" Igneous shouted back, "I won't loose you!"

Someone once told Slate that true love was willing to do anything for your partner, for willing to both die and kill for them. He never really understood that before now, but it was slowly becoming more clear to him. True love was....wanting this person to be happy, even if you weren't. Wanting them to live even if you couldn't. He would rather have Igneous live only to tomorrow, and die of natural causes, than die today because of him.

He looked up at his friend, gnashing his teeth together and trying to find a way to get them out of this, and he smiled. He wanted the last thing he saw to be the one he loved.

"I love you." He said, so softly that Igneous wouldn't be able to hear it, and let go.

What's worse than being in love with someone who will never love you back because they're already in love with someone else? When you know you'll never get to see them again, whether they're with someone else or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear when I started this off, it was just going to be flat out humor. Then I angsted. 
> 
> Anyway, not over yet. A few more chapters to go.


	3. Chapter 3

What's even worse than being in love with your best friend, who loves a sweet and gentle queen? Falling down a giant crack in the earth to prevent him from succumbing to the same fate, and falling straight into a pool of freezing cold water.

Slate gasped for breath, and struggled to keep his head above the surface as the current of cold water forced him further underground. He couldn't fight against the current, and allowed it to carry him along until it was weak enough for him to swim to the shore. He started coughing up water, and forced himself onto his back as he tried to steady his breathing.

Well, he never expected to have survived that...not that he wasn't grateful.

By the oracle though, where was he? He could barely see a foot in front of his face, and despite a cool breeze rolling through, he could not tell where it was coming from.

"Well Slate, you've gotten into worse situations than this before," he said to himself, and sat up when he could breathe without feeling a stabbing pain in her chest. "You can get yourself out of this one just as easily."

Hopefully Igneous had gotten out by now. The others would have come for him. He could only just hope that they weren't going to do anything stupid...like jump after him.

"Fang knows how good of a tracker you are," He said to himself. "There's no way he would allow such a thing to happen. He's probably sitting and planning a rescue mission as I speak."

Well, he shouldn't stand here doing nothing. The least he could do is try and find his own way out, so they didn't have to go through all of that trouble themselves. He stood up, and felt around for a cave wall, and then started following along beside the water current. If he just went back the way he came, he could find the exit eventually.

* * *

 

When he finally became aware of his surroundings again, Igneous back at the palace, in his bed, and it was nearing nightfall. It had been a long time since he blacked out in such a way, not since he had been a small boy, but he supposed that it was to be expected since-

His friend didn't say a word as he fell, but Igneous knew when he was gone. He felt a sharp pang through his chest, and suddenly the weight around his legs was gone. Slate was-

Igneous shook his head, as tears became to form in his eyes. He would not cry. He was a strong Arachnian knight, a brave spider rider, he would not allow himself to cry...

This method of encouragement, of appealing to his own masculinity, always failed. It failed when he became stunned following his rejection at the hands of Queen Illuma, it failed when his friends (mainly Magma) started poking at his newly discovered sensitivity, and it was failing now. He wiped his eyes on his sleeve, until they turned red and irritated, but even that wasn't enough to stop the tears from falling.

Slate...Slate was gone...he couldn't have survived a fall from that height and even if he did, he was trapped beneath the surface of Arachna. He probably bashed his head in upon impact with the ground, or was crashed by falling rocks...

Igneous' stomach twisted up at the thought. It didn't matter now...all that mattered was that he had lost someone else.

A memory flashed before his eyes, of a bit taller than him, but with the same face and a large invectid ride sticking out his chest, as the color drained from his body and he collapsed to the ground.

He shook his head again. He couldn't think of that now, he didn't want to think about his brother's death, when he needed to try and come to terms with his best friend's apparent death.

"Oh Igneous~!" Before he had time to react, the door to his bedroom was flung open and Princess Sparkle came running into his room. She flopped down onto his bed, across his legs, and started blubbering none sense into the blankets. He sighed, and tried petting her hair the way she liked in an attempt to sooth her.

"What is it my princess?" He asked, "What's upsetting you?"

More mumbled words he could not begin to comprehend spilled from her mouth, and Igneous noticed a small dampness growing on the blankets from where she hid her face. She was crying, like him.

He smiled sadly, "I'm alright Princess. I am okay."

She looked up, tears rolling down her cheeks. "But...Slate...-" and she could not finish what she wanted to say, before letting out a sob and collapsing back onto the bed. Death was always crushing for a child. Always hard for them to accept. Princess Sparkle had known Slate almost her entire life and now, she had to face the reality that she could never see him again.

"I see you're awake." Igneous looked to the door, and saw Prince Lumen leaning against the frame. He seemed sullen, which was understandable given the circumstances. "The invectids left after we managed to get the square under control. Bugese, Beerin, Stags, even Grasshop and their family once they were all united." He sighed, and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "...I'm sorry that we couldn't get to you sooner...."

It wasn't his fault. They were in the middle of a chaotic event, as thousands of people tried to flee from certain doom. It was easy for a couple of people to get lost in the confusion.

"...You were screaming when we finally were able to pull you up." Lumen continued, "You had your eyes squeezed tight and screaming and thrashing out against us. You have Sparkle quite a fright, hence why she's here now."

"I was screaming?" He hadn't done that before... "What was I screaming?"

"His name. You kept screaming Slate's name over and over. It...didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened."

The last straw was having Lumen see him cry. Even though Igneous had been having a lot of incidents in the past month where he had to cry, he always excused himself to somewhere so his Prince wouldn't see him in such a state. Right now though, he just could not help it. The tears started flowing again, and this time he made no attempt to conceal them. He didn't feel like hiding how he felt much anymore.

"D-did someone find him while I was...was out of it?" He was referring to the remains. Sparkle's crying and sobbing was all the evidence he needed to conclude that his best friend was deceased. "Has there been work done to try and recover-"

"None." Prince Lumen said, shaking his head sadly. "We've been focusing our efforts on healing the people and invectids who have been hurt, and trying to repair the square. It will...will be a matter of days before we can explore the pit he fell into and see if we can give him the send off he deserves."

They didn't find his remains....

They weren't looking for him....

Slate was strong, always a fighter....

Falls were hard to predict. Hunter had fallen off numerous surfaces during his time in the inner world, igneous had fallen off a cliff and on point, believing he would die, and that was back before he had any training in fight whatsoever. There may have been, an incredibly slight, possibility that he was not dead yet. Whether he was or was not, Igneous knew that he had to take action. Immediately.

"Pardon me Sparkle," He said, and pulled his legs out from beneath the inconsolable girl. He was still dressed from earlier, the same clothes though they were stained with dirt from his time dangling over the edge of a cavernous opening in the ground. He brushed some dirt off, and made sure his manacle had not been removed, before walking towards the door and past Prince Lumen. "I should be back by dinner. If not I advise you to send someone out after me."

"And just where are you going?" The prince called after him. "This does not seem to be the time to take a little stroll through the square! You just underwent a fairly tragic event, and you want to work?! What's the matter with you, my friend?!"

Igneous only kept on walking towards the palace exit. Slate had saved his life on more than one occasion, and he deserved the same from him. The fact was, Igneous could not picture a life without Slate in it. The matter with him was, he was at his best when his best friend was around. He needed him back and Igneous was ready to cross the plains of hell themselves to get him.

* * *

 

The square was almost empty, except for the few knights running around trying to repair whatever they could at the moment, and a couple of injured civilians laying about and being tended to by volunteers, doctors and nurses. Igneous walked right through the crowd without a word to any of them. He was a man on a mission, and nothing was going to distract him from getting it done.

"Igneous!"

Although he kept walking, Igneous did look back over his shoulder to see who was addressing him. Queen Illuma was chasing after him, and it was enough to slow him down so she could keep up with him. He did not stop walking.

"Hello Queen Illuma." The knight greeted her, "How are you doing?"

"Wonderfully, thanks to you and your friend. I just wanted to say that I appreciated all that you both had done for me and that I'm sincerely sorry for your loss-"

"It's not my loss." Igneous told her, quite plainly. "I've known Slate long enough to know a little fall isn't going to take him out. I'm going to go look for him under the city."

He was unsure why he was telling her this, but he felt a bit better after he did.

"You shouldn't have to thank us. It's the job of a knight to save those who need it."

The queen smiled at him, a smile that had once brought him to his knees, but now did nothing. He felt no surge of happiness, of lust, of anything when she smiled at him. Regardless he smiled back.

"You should go find Solan, make sure he knows you're okay." It would have been worrisome for him, almost having his lover die on him, and seeing so much chaos around them.

She nodded and turned down one of the side streets to do just as Igneous had advised.

"You handled that quite calmly." A voice, familiar but hardly ever heard before, spoke. "Given how mad you were about her this morning, I never would have expected that."

"Flame," Igneous said with an eye-roll. His spider rarely talked, only when he thought it was critically important did he speak, but when he didn't always left an impression. "I have no idea of what you are referring to."

"Sure you don't kid. Sure you don't."

This hardly seemed of any importance to Igneous but he knew better than to try and argue with a spider who had been alive for almost triple his own lifespan. If he was to receive the amount of concentration he needed from his spider, Igneous knew they couldn't afford to argue at the moment.

They walked to the edge of the gapping gash in the ground, and stopped. "You know what I want you to do?"

"Yes. You know how risky this is?"

A playful smirk found its way upon Igneous' lips. "You're certainly chatty today aren't you?" He teased, "Yes I am aware. I will find my own way out, I assure you. Go back to the palace once I get to the bottom, alright?"

Flame said nothing so Igneous assumed that he understood him. He released the spider from his manacle, and stood waiting at the edge. He took a deep breath, then leaped into the air. Flame shot string around his ankles, like they had done almost a million times before, and Igneous went diving into the darkness.

He free-fell for a considerable amount of time before he could actually see the bottom. He tugged on the string, signaling Flame to stop, and hovered. Beneath him was rushing water, heading further down into the city's underground. It would be wise not to take the route, though it was more than likely his friend had fallen in, and walk along side it on the narrow of stretch of land a few feet away from him. Igneous rocked back and forth to gain some momentum, then jumped over and cut the string attached to him.

Flame was a good spider. He would go back to the palace and get the others should he need them.

It was dark....but that was fine. Just because he was no underground, and most likely in an area connected to the old catacombs, didn't mean that there were any ghosts down here...and certainly not the ghost spider...

That was just an old children's story....

Either way Igneous didn't want to stand around here waiting to find out. He started walking, feeling along the closest wall of the caverns so he would be able to follow it. Slate was around here somewhere.

~~~~~~~~

* * *

 

There was something up ahead. Slate stopped and squinted, trying to make out what lingered in the darkness before him. It was misshapen, but small and in the middle of his path. The former knight stopped for a moment, and though it was no person as far as he could tell, he would still try and call out.

"Hello?" He said. The thing didn't move. Slate started walking again to try and get a closer look. He let out a soft gasp when he did. Upon closer inspection, the object was a human skull. And not one that was actually corral shaped by the tides....

He sat down beside it, and tried to not feel any amount of hopelessness. Getting out of here didn't end so well for this person, why would it work for him?

"What are you here for?" Slate asleep the skull, and hoped that it wouldn't reply.

* * *

 

"Hello?"

Igneous knew that voice. He would be able to pick it out anywhere, even considering the limited amount of time they had been in each other's presence lately. Slate! He knew that he couldn't have just died! His friend was too strong for that!

Igneous broke into a run. It sounded like Slate was just up ahead! If he just hurried he could catch up with him and-

The spider rider rounded a coroner and froze. Slate was there ahead of him, his back to Igneous, but beside him there was something that made the seventeen year old's blood run cold. A skull, a very human skull was beside him, and it started to drive out Igneous'....more creative side.

What if Slate were dead and this was his ghost, beside the only piece of him that survived the fall? What if it was all some illusion? What if Igneous had died and this was all some strange dream in the after life. Both prospects were horrifying. Regardless, he went with his gut on what this situation was.

"GHOST!" He screamed, in a rather high pitched voice, and turned and bolted back the way he'd came.

"Ign-igneous?" Slate said, and turned around just in time to his friend running away from him, down a narrow tunnel that ran along beside the water.

He stood up, and chased after him. "Igneous what are you doing?!"

The knight kept running, didn't even look back at him. He was mumbling some nonsense about ghosts that Slate could not understand but he sped up, tried his best to keep up with his friend.

"Igneous!"

"Ghost! Ghost! Ghost!" Igneous kept repeating, and ran faster than Slate had ever seen him move in all of their years as friends together. If someone had been timing him, it would have been a recorder breaker.

"Fang stop it! This is ridiculous!" Slate called to him. "You're going to slip and get hurt or something!"

They had enough luck that something like that would happen to them.

The younger of the two just kept running, and tried to round a corner back to the main chamber of the cavern, where they had both come in. The ground must have still been wet from when Slate managed to crawl out though, because Igneous did In fact slip and went tumbling into the water.

Slate sighed, reached in, and pulled him out by his scarf. At least he had been prepared for this.

What's worse than sacrificing yourself to save the one you love? When it doesn't work and they end up being hurt.


	4. Chapter 4

What's worse than spending most of your day trying to navigate under the city after sacrificing yourself to save your best friend? When said best friend lets his irrational fear of ghosts get the better of him, believes you're a ghost, and then ends up falling into the water mentioned earlier.

....it had not been a good day for Arachna's Fang and Claw.

Igneous was breathing fine when Slate managed to pull him out, but he was unconscious. One would think all his negative experiences with water would be what he had a phobia for but no, it just has to be ghosts.

Slate sighed, and wrapped Igneous' arm over his shoulders for support, and continued back the way they had been going. He should have just walked back once he was free from the treacherous waters, but no. He had tried to go exploring. A lot of good that did him. At least Igneous had been prepared in case anything should happen to him.

Once they got back to the main chamber of the cavern, Slate leaned his friend against the wall and waited for someone to come along and rescue them.

It didn't take very long. Flame was a reliable spider, something that made up from his usual lack of talking. Shadow sent Hunter down to collect their two missing friends and they were both out in no time. It had only taken two hours from the time Igneous entered the underground, to the time he left it with Slate.

The return to the palace was rather uneventful and it was a matter of minutes before Slate was having a good hot meal, and Igneous was resting in bed as Lily tended to him, and tried to get him to stir. Slate waited until she had left, and he had finished eating, before entering the room to see his friend.

It reminded him a lot of how they had met. Igneous had been unconscious then as well, and they had both been so young. Slate had no idea then, how much he was going to care for the boy his father pulled from the lake, but he was grateful.

Grateful to have met someone like Igneous.

His friend was pale, his eyes shut tight, and his clothes (still damp from his time underwater) clung to his body. Lily had pulled blankets up to his waist, but he would occasionally shiver from the cold. He looked a lot like he did ten years ago.

Slate smiled a bit, high off nostalgia, and sat at the foot of his friend's bed. He thought about it for a minute or so, before deciding that Igneous wouldn't remember this so it did not matter, and leaned over him and pecked his cheek.

"You're a brave idiot, you know that?" He asked.

Igneous' eyes fluttered open and he sat up, "Wh-what?" He asked, and Slate could tell the moment he realized what had just happened. His eyes widened, and he gently touched his cheek. "Y-you kissed me..." He said.

Slate had no idea what to say. How could you tell your friend you loved them so boldly. He couldn't wipe the stupid smile off his face though, and finally said the most stupid thing he could possibly think of.

"Told you. You're sleeping beauty."

Fang stared at him, completely lost, before the morning's conversation suddenly sank in. He laughed a bit, which was the best Slate thought he would get in this situation. "What does that make you then?" Igneous asked him. "The prince?"

"Well I doubt that you want to have Prince Lumen kissing you, so yes. I guess it does."

"Then can I do something?"

Slate shrugged, "Yeah, sure, I suppose. That's not really much else we can do today though. Lily is getting majorly annoyed that we kept almost dyi-"

Igneous leaned forward and pressed his lips against Slate's, shutting him up. It was soft, gentle, more like a peck on the lips than an actual kiss. He sat back a second later, and marveled at the deep shade of red spreading across Claw's face.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"..." Slate didn't know how to answer that. His brain felt completely fried. "...I just....I have no idea what just happened..."

"It's just that...after I found out what had happened to you, I realized how crappy my life felt without you in for those years you were away, and how crappy they would feel if you were gone again. When I was going to see you, I ran into Queen Illuma and she was so happy, openly expressing her gratitude for all we did, and I didn't feel anything. If I still loved her I should have felt something warm and fuzzy but all I felt was hallow because you weren't with me." Igneous tried to explain. "And you may have freaked me out in the caverns...okay it was mainly the skull and the possibility you were a ghost but...but I still felt some weird, warm sense of relief when I saw you. And that started me thinking that maybe I-"

"Maybe...you're in love with me?" Slate asked hopefully. "Because I know that I'm in love with you. Took me a while to realize that but I know it's true."

His friend nodded slowly. "I think that I love you too."

They sat there, looking awkwardly at each other but still both were smiling, and blushing.

"So," Igneous asked. "We're not allowed to leave the palace after....all of that, so what do you want to do?"

"I have an idea." Slate replied, "It involves more kissing, possibly with or without shirts, your call."

He wasn't going to rush Igneous into anything but right now he was feeling affection and wanted to show it.

The younger of the two smirked in response, and Slate suddenly got this strange feeling prey must get when they're looking into the eyes of their predators. He felt himself blushing a deeper shade of red under his friend's constant gaze, but grinned almost stupidly nonetheless.

"What are you-" he tried to ask, before Igneous flung his arms around Slate's shoulders and crushed their lips together in a heated and passionate kiss. Slate moaned, and wrapped his arms around Igneous' waist, and they both tumbled backwards onto the bed.

What's worse than falling in love with your best friend? Some would argue nothing. But Slate was rather happy with how everything turned out


End file.
